The departmental allocation
The library allocates a certain amount of money annually to each department and program to recommend books and other purchases. One member of each department coordinates these recommendations as the departmental liaison to the library. Since our library is a teaching library for undergraduates, please be aware that your requests should be suitable for an undergraduate readership. See our Collection Development Policy for more details. Questions about this process can be directed to your library liaison.
Books in other areas
We know that many faculty members have knowledge and interests that may be outside of their own discipline. Therefore, you may want to recommend books to the library that aren't specific to your departmental program. Please feel free to pass such recommendations along to us. We want to build interdisciplinary areas as well.
Videos and Streaming Media
Generally, we acquire DVD versions of videos because streaming options don't offer the price and usage rights that work best for Gustavus. The covid pandemic has altered our practices somewhat to support changing teaching modalities. Please see our Streaming Video page for more information. We encourage departments to order videos through the library so they can be a campus-wide resource. (We also often get discounts.) We can put videos on reserve for your students to view in the library or check them out to you for classroom use. The check-out period for videos is shorter than for books, but we can extend the period as needed.
Subscriptions to journals and electronic databases
Journals and databases, both ongoing subscriptions, aren't purchased out of these departmental allocations. Librarians consider database requests individually as they arise. Please send recommendations to us, although please note that many database subscription prices often cost much more than what the library budget can support. We will certainly investigate pricing options for all database requests that support student learning.
Special funds
In addition to funds allocated to the department, the library has funding available to fill in gaps. Some may be appropriate to your discipline and again, we know that many faculty members have interests that aren't specific to their departmental program. Please feel free to pass such recommendations along to the library. Though our first aim is to support the curriculum, we want to build a solid liberal-arts collection that covers areas not necessarily specific to Gustavus course offerings.
We also have several endowed lines that have a subject focus. We appreciate your help in making use of these funds.
The library began acquiring streaming licenses for select films for online teaching in Spring 2020 with the onset of the COVID pandemic. Below please find information on current licenses and guidelines for requesting streaming video in 2021-2022: